Campesinos in Southwest Colombia Fight for Justice

Between May 12th and May 20th, over 150,000 Colombian campesinos (peasant farmers) of African, indigenous, and mestizo descent shut down the Pan-American Highway across southwestern Colombia. This mass mobilization (which was also a general strike, and which was accompanied by demonstrations of solidarity within cities in the region) was organized by the Popular Unity Process of Southwest Colombia, a regional coalition of campesino associations, labor unions, and other progressive groups.

The demands of the demonstrators were simple. They wanted usable roads, drinkable water, access to health care, electricity, housing, basic sanitation – things that many citizens of the first world take for granted. Under the repressive Uribe regime, however, demands like these are too radical to be tolerated. Participants in the mobilization were designated as “guerrilla sympathizers” by the Colombian government, and the military – armed and equipped by the United States as part of the “war on terror” – came down on them with lethal force. Demonstrators were pushed off of bridges, attacked with knives and bayonets, and shot at with live ammunition. Tanks and helicopters were called in to crush all resistance, and opened fire on the crowds with live ammunition. Paralyzing nerve gas was also dropped onto the demonstrators from helicopters. Many campesinos were killed, but the total number of casualties is still uncertain.

Hubert Gomez, the vice-president of FENSUAGRO (Colombia’s national union of campesino associations) and one of the organizers of the protest, has described the mobilization as “an act of desperation.” This is because, in the words of one local campesino, “We live in a region that has been forgotten by the state. It takes me ten hours to get to the nearest hospital. Our basic needs are not being met. We have been forced to take matters into our own hands.” One of the biggest problems is the lack of usable roads in the countryside. Most of the region’s campesino communities are several days’ journey from markets where they can sell their produce, making traditional agriculture all but impossible. With no alternatives, many campesinos turn to growing coca because it is the only crop they can raise that is economically viable.

Although the mobilization was forcibly dispersed by the government, the campesinos were able to secure some limited gains from the action. Most importantly, the campesinos forced the government to enter another round of negotiations with them to discuss proposals for developing regional infrastructure. The first major meeting took place on July 18th in the city of Pasto. The hours spent in these sessions with the government seemed largely wasted; the government delegates lacked any sort of decision-making power. Looking bored most of the time, they spoke condescendingly to the campesinos, telling them that there was no money for rural projects and that the peasant associations didn’t know what they were doing. The campesinos were outraged by this treatment. One organizer stood up and told the government’s representatives: “we are not children, we were not born yesterday, and we did not mobilize and die for you to walk out on us!”

While he participated in the talks, Hubert Gomez harbors no illusions about where they are going: “We’ve had discussions like this in the past and they do not work. The interests of the businesses are listened to. Our interests are not. That is why we will continue to mobilize.” The prospect of another round of brutal state repression does not scare the campesinos, who are prepared to face violence and death to demand a better life. Eberto Diaz, the national president of FENSUAGRO, expressed this resolve eloquently: “Under the current regime we can only move forward through mass mobilizations, even if this means that some of us have to die.”